Applicator for hazardous materials

1. An applicator comprising:

a housing ( 302 , 402 , 502 , 602 , 702 , 802 , 902 , 1002 , 1102 , 1902 ) having a chamber ( 308 , 408 , 508 , 608 , 708 , 808 , 1008 , 1108 ), a discharge port ( 310 , 410 , 510 , 610 , 710 , 810 , 1010 , 1110 ), and a valve ( 314 , 414 , 514 , 614 , 714 , 814 , 1014 , 1114 ) movable between a closed position in which the discharge port is not in fluid communication with the chamber, and an open position in which the discharge port is in fluid communication with the chamber, and a valve spring ( 318 , 418 , 518 , 618 , 718 , 818 , 1018 , 1118 ) configured to bias the valve towards the closed position; and

a wick ( 312 , 412 , 512 , 612 , 712 , 812 , 912 , 1012 , 1112 , 1912 ) movably connected to the housing and configured to transmit an axial load to the valve to move the valve from the closed position to the open position, the wick comprising a material suitable to receive a fluid from the discharge port and pass the fluid to a location outside the housing;

wherein the applicator is characterized by:

means for supporting and/or increasing a stiffness of the wick ( 322 , 422 , 522 , 622 , 722 , 824 , 922 , 1021 , 1124 , 1922 , 1930 );

wherein the means for supporting and/or increasing the stiffness of the wick comprises a tube ( 322 , 522 , 622 , 824 , 922 , 1922 ) surrounding at least a portion of the wick;

wherein the wick is mounted to the tube to be movable between an extended position and a retracted position, and a wick spring ( 526 ) is operatively positioned between the wick and the tube and configured to bias the wick to the extended position; and

wherein the wick spring has a lower spring constant than the valve spring.

2. The applicator of claim 1 , wherein the tube surrounding the wick comprises one or more lateral openings ( 324 , 530 , 626 , 924 ) extending through a wall of the tube.

3. The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the one or more lateral openings are positioned outside the housing.

4. The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the one or more lateral openings are positioned inside the housing.

5. The applicator of claim 1 , wherein the tube comprises a trigger ( 624 ) located outside the housing and configured to be operated to move the valve from the closed position to the open position.

6. The applicator of claim 5 , wherein the housing further comprises a grip surface ( 628 ) spaced from the trigger and configured to be held to hold the housing against a force applied to the trigger.

7. The applicator of claim 1 , wherein the wick comprises a one of a selection of different wicks ( 812 ′, 812 ″, 812 ′″, 812 ″″, 812 ′″″), the different wicks being interchangeably connectable to the tube.

8. The applicator of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a tip portion ( 1004 ) and a handle portion ( 1006 ), and the tip portion is movable relative to the handle portion.

9. The applicator of claim 8 , wherein the tip portion is attached to the handle portion by a rotating connection ( 1022 ).

10. The applicator of claim 1 , wherein the means for supporting and/or increasing the stiffness of the wick comprises an inner bundle of fibers forming a first portion of the wick having a stiffness greater than a second portion of the wick comprising an outer layer.

11. The applicator of claim 1 , wherein the applicator is characterized by:

means for positioning the wick at a nonzero angle relative to at least a portion of the housing, optionally the nonzero angle is greater than or equal to 1 degree relative to a longitudinal direction “L” of the housing and the means for positioning the wick relative to at least a portion of the housing comprises a proximal portion ( 1004 , 2504 ) of the housing that is movable relative to a distal portion ( 1006 , 2506 ) of the housing.

12. The applicator of claim 11 , wherein the proximal portion of the housing is connected to the distal portion of the housing by a rotating connection ( 1022 ) or flexible section ( 2522 ).

13. The applicator of claim 11 , wherein the means for positioning the wick at a nonzero angle relative to at least a portion of the housing comprises a proximal portion ( 1204 ) of the housing that is fixed at the nonzero angle relative to a distal portion ( 1206 ) of the housing, the discharge port 1210 and wick 1212 are oriented along an axis A that is angled relative to the longitudinal direction L, optionally the valve 1214 and spring 1218 are also oriented along axis A.

14. The applicator of claim 11 , further comprising means for regulating the volume of flow comprising a flexible wall of the chamber ( 1008 , 1208 , 2008 , 2108 , 2208 , 2308 , 2408 , 2508 ), the flexible wall being configured to be compressed to increase the volume of flow.

15. The applicator of claim 14 , wherein the housing ( 1002 , 1202 , 2002 , 2102 , 2202 , 2302 , 2402 , 2502 ) comprises a flexible bottle forming the flexible wall, or a portion of the housing comprises a flexible membrane forming the flexible wall.

16. A method of applying metal pretreatment material to an intricate geometry of a metal surface, the method comprising steps of: contacting the intricate geometry of the metal surface with the wick of the applicator according to claim 1 ,

wherein said wick receives a metal pretreatment fluid from the discharge port and passes the metal pretreatment fluid to the contacted metal surface;

wherein the applicator optionally further comprises one or more of:

means for regulating a volume of flow from the chamber to the wick;

means for positioning the wick at a nonzero angle relative to at least a portion of the housing.